Mere Whaanga is a
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
writer, illustrator, historian, researcher and academic whose work includes bilingual picture books, history books and conference papers. Several of her books have been shortlisted for or won awards and she herself has received a number of awards, grants, fellowships and writing residencies. She lives in
Māhia,
Hawke's Bay.
Biography
Mere Joslyn (Komako) Whaanga (also published under the name Mere Whaanga-Schollum)
was born on 23 January 1952 in
Wairoa, Hawke's Bay.
She grew up on an isolated sheep station near Gisborne on the East Coast of New Zealand
and was educated at Hukarere Māori Girls’ College and
Gisborne Girls’ High School.
After leaving school, she had various jobs including laboratory assistant, sales rep and tutor
before returning to study as a mature student.
She studied Te Reo Māori Paetoru at
Tairawhiti Polytechnic
Tairawhiti Polytechnic was a public New Zealand tertiary education institution. The main campus is based in Gisborne in the North Island. It provides full- and part-time education leading to certificates, diplomas, and applied bachelor's degrees. ...
in Gisborne in 1992-1993 and went on to complete a graduate diploma in Māori Development from
Massey University
Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...
in 1994 and an MPhil in Māori Studies, also from Massey University, in 1999.
She has a doctorate from the
University of Waikato
The University of Waikato ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato), is a Public university, public research university in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand established in 1964. An additional campus is located in Tauranga.
The university perfo ...
on Māori land law.
Her doctoral research was supervised by
Ngahuia Te Awekotuku
Ngahuia Te Awekotuku (born 1949) is a New Zealand academic specialising in Māori cultural issues and a lesbian activist. In 1972, she was famously denied a visa to visit the United States on the basis of her sexuality.
Biography
Te Awekotuk ...
.
Mere Whaanga's writing includes history books, bilingual picture books, conference papers, articles, poetry and reviews. Her artwork has also featured in exhibitions in New Zealand and Australia.
She lives in Mahia
and is of
Ngāti Rongomaiwahine and
Ngāti Kahungunu
Ngāti Kahungunu is a Māori iwi located along the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in the Hawke's Bay and Wairārapa regions.
The tribe is organised into six geographical and administrative di ...
descent.
Mere Whaanga's three children are practising artists - Miriama Reid,
Desna Whaanga-Schollum and Clem Whaanga-Schollum.
Awards and Prizes
''Tangaroa’s Gift: Te Koha a Tangaroa'' (1990) was a finalist in the 1991 AIM Children's Book Awards, the NZLA Russell Clark Award for illustration and the NZLA
Esther Glen Award
The Esther Glen Award, or LIANZA Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award, is the longest running and the most renowned literary prize for New Zealand children's literature.
History
The prize was called into being in memory of New Zealand writer Alic ...
for literature.
In 2011, Mere Whaanga also received the Storylines
Gaelyn Gordon Award
The Gaelyn Gordon Award is awarded annually by the Children's Literature Foundation (now called the Storylines Children's Literature Foundation) to a well-loved work of New Zealand children's fiction.
History
This award is named after Gaelyn Go ...
for ''Tangaroa’s Gift''.
''The singing dolphin'': ''Te Aihe i Waiata'' was a finalist in the Picture Book category of the 2017 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
''A Carved Cloak for Tahu'' was a finalist in the History section of the
Montana New Zealand Book Awards
The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder W ...
2005.
Mere Whaanga has received a number of awards, including the Choysa Bursary for Children's Writers in 1988, Te Ha Award for Māori Writers in 1991, QEII Literary Fund Incentive Grant in 1991, Te Waka Toi New Work Grant in 2002, the Ministry of Culture and Heritage Fellowship in Māori History in 2001-2003. and a New Zealand History Research Trust Fund Award in 2003.
Her expertise has been recognised in her appointments as judge for the Aim Children's Book Awards (1993–94) and the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults (1997–98).
In 2015, she was awarded the Michael King Writers Centre Māori Writer's Residency to work on an adult novel,
and in 2017 she was the
.
Bibliography
Picture books
''Legend of the Seven Whales of Ngāi Tahu Matawhaiti: He Pakiwaitara o nga Tahora Tokowhitu a Ngāi Tahu Matawhaiti'' (Mahia Publishers, 1988; republished by Scholastic, 1990)
''Tangaroa's Gift: Te Koha a Tangaroa'' (Ashton Scholastic, 1990)
''Te Kooti's Diamond: Te Taimana a Te Kooti'' (Ashton Scholastic, 1991)
''The Treaty: Te Tiriti'' (Scholastic, 2003)
''The Singing Dolphin: Te Aihe i Waiata (''Scholastic, 2017)
History
''Bartlett: Mahia to Tawatapu'' (Mahia Publishers, 1990)
''A Carved Cloak for Tahu'' (Auckland University Press, 2004)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whaanga, Mere
Living people
New Zealand children's writers
New Zealand women children's writers
People from Wairoa
University of Waikato alumni
Massey University alumni
1952 births
Ngāti Rongomaiwahine people
Ngāti Kahungunu people
People educated at Gisborne Girls' High School
Māori-language writers